


Like the Stars, I Fall For You

by TheInsaneFox



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Greater Secrets, Love Confessions, M/M, Midnight love confessions, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, S8 Never happened and Sheith are happy together, The Lovers, The Lovers Tarot, meteor showers, season 8 what season 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-27 04:31:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18296882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheInsaneFox/pseuds/TheInsaneFox
Summary: Shiro must have noticed because without even looking at Keith, he asked, “Everything okay over there? I can hear you thinking.”Keith turned his face away so fast that he nearly gave himself whiplash. “I wasn’t thinking....much.”He could perfectly imagine the look on Shiro’s face, one eyebrow raised in question and his expression contorted in confusion.Finally, Shiro’s voice cut the silence. “Keith. Talk to me. What’s on your mind?”You. Keith wanted to say. You and how much I love you.





	Like the Stars, I Fall For You

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh I've been dying to share this! Finally got the green light to share my piece from Greater Secrets so please feel free to message me on Twitter if you have any questions about that!
> 
> I'm oddly proud of this piece so please, read, review, kudos, whatever, it will feed my soul! <3

Keith snuck down the silent hall of the barracks, feeling like a student trying to sneak out all over again. The moon was about to reach its zenith and he’d been planning this idea since the Paladins had arrived back from their latest mission.

 

With the war over, they had all returned to Earth. And while most of them had chosen to move into their own places, Shiro had elected to move back into the barracks. Keith suspected it was because Shiro felt the need to be busy at all times, like he was worried his demons would catch up with him if he slowed down at all. So Keith had made it his personal mission to stay by Shiro’s side and watch over him when he finally collapsed from exhaustion.

 

The door to Shiro’s room unlocked with a soft whirring sound as it opened automatically for Keith. He still found it creepy that the doors could unlock merely by sensing someone’s DNA within a small radius, but at least Shiro had insisted that Keith be cleared for his small military issued apartment to come and go as he pleased. The knowledge that Shiro trusted him so wholeheartedly sent an odd feeling to his heart; he refused to call it warmth or anything equally as sappy.

 

Tiptoeing his way into Shiro’s bedroom, Keith paused for a moment to admire what was in front of him: Shiro, shirtless and sprawled like a starfish on his stomach across his mattress, as the moonlight streamed in through the window near his bed. It bathed Shiro in a soft white glow, making him appear younger, or even ethereal. His hair had turned prematurely white, but Keith swore he could see a prism of colors in it every time the light hit it just right. 

 

War hadn’t been kind to any of them, least of all Shiro. But he seemed to finally be at peace in his deep sleep, and it made Keith feel a small pang of guilt for what he was about to do.

 

But not enough to stop him.

 

“Shiro,” Keith whispered, careful not to startle him. They’d learned the hard way that Shiro did not react well to being woken up abruptly, so it took a fine balance of gentle insistence to wake up him. “Hey, wake up.”

  
  
Gray eyes blinked slowly as he tried to focus on the face in front of him. “Keith?” he finally yawned. “What time is it?”

  
  
Keith smiled, sitting down next to Shiro on the bed and rubbing comforting circles on his back. “About two AM. Sorry, but I have something I want to show you.”

  
  
Shiro groaned and rolled back over in his bed. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

  
  
“No,” Keith laughed. “Come on, get up and put a shirt on.”

 

A pathetic whine came from Shiro’s throat, but after a second Keith could see the resignation in him as the tension left his body. With a resounding grunt, Shiro hoisted himself off the bed and stumbled over to his dresser to dig out a plain black t-shirt and a gray hoodie.

 

“This better be worth it,” Shiro grumbled through a yawn as he locked the apartment behind them. 

  
  
“It will be.” Keith grinned at him over his shoulder, grabbing Shiro’s hand and moving forward.

 

Keith lead him outside to where he’d parked his hoverbike and motioned for Shiro to get on behind him. Normally Shiro would protest and take his own hoverbike, but he seemed sleepier than usual as he jumped on without any question, wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist and burying his face in Keith’s neck.

 

“Don’t fall off on me.” Keith chuckled, but also nudged Shiro to make sure he hadn’t fallen back asleep.

 

Shiro replied with an incomprehensible groan but tightened his arms around Keith to let him know he was still awake.

 

With a soft roar, the hoverbike came to life and took off as Keith revved the throttle. The bike lurched forward, and Keith flew into the night. 

 

The landscape gradually became more and more barren as they headed farther into the desert. Keith was as familiar with these desolate parts of the desert as he was the Castle of Lions. He’d grown up among the sand and stars, after all. After spending many nights of his childhood looking at the sky with his dad, there was something about the stars and open air that made Keith want to become a pilot.

 

Seeing their destination rise over the horizon line, Keith leaned forward and gunned it. The hoverbike picked up speed as he flew towards their endpoint, reveling in the rush of wind in his ears as he kicked up sand all around them.

 

“Keith!” Shiro called from behind him, practically shouting in his ear. “Can you be careful? I’m going to fall off!”

  
  
“Then hold on tighter!”

 

That earned him a light smack to the shoulder but both were laughing.

 

When they finally reached their destination, Keith pulled the bike up and killed the engine. He let Shiro get off and take a minute to yawn and stretch while he dug the supplies they’d need out of the storage unit attached to the bike.

 

It seemed to take Shiro a few minutes before he finally realized where Keith had taken him. He looked around, eyes widening as he took in their surroundings. “Keith. Are we--?”

  
  
“Back at the shack?” Keith supplied. “Yes.”

 

Shiro nodded and chewed on his lower lip, mulling over his response.  Keith was aware that they hadn’t been out here since right before the war with the Galra had broken out. Back when they’d been young and naive, with hope and plans for the future that didn’t involve an intergalactic war and aliens. When Keith couldn’t bring himself to tell Shiro that he loved him, and watched him become engaged to Adam.

 

But everything was different now. The war was long over. And Adam…

 

Keith tried not to think about Adam and his fate. It had nearly destroyed Shiro to hear what had happened, but he was finally in a better place. Keith had no doubt that he’d taken plenty of time to mourn when he thought nobody was looking, but he had never pushed Shiro about it.

 

Glancing at his watch, Keith checked the time. The glowing numbers indicated it was a little past three AM, which meant that they’d made it with a few minutes to spare. 

  
  
“So are you going to tell me why you dragged me out here?” Shiro asked, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Keith walk over to the front porch of the shack and lay out a thick blanket.

 

“That’s a surprise!” Keith shot Shiro a cheesy grin. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

 

Shiro rolled his eyes but otherwise, the two of them remained silent as Keith continued to bring things over to the porch and start laying things out on the blanket he’d set out.

 

It wasn’t much, just a couple of cold cut sandwiches, chips, and a few Diet Cokes, but Keith was rather proud of his little makeshift picnic.

 

“No wine?” Shiro teased as he sat down on the blanket without waiting for an invitation.

  
  
“I do have some, but it’s for later,” Keith replied but didn’t offer to elaborate further than a shrug of his shoulders and a wry smile.

 

As they settled in and began eating their sandwiches, a meteor streaked across the sky. Keith elbowed Shiro and pointed at the meteor to get his attention. It worked, and Shiro looked up in time to see another meteor, followed by another. The sight was absolutely beautiful, but Keith didn’t think he’d ever find beauty in the stars that would rival the look of sheer awe in Shiro’s eyes.

 

“Still amazing to watch from Earth, even after we’ve been in space, huh?” Keith asked, watching Shiro’s reaction.

 

“Absolutely,” Shiro replied.

 

After a few minutes of watching the meteor shower, Keith leaned back over to grab something out of the cooler. When he emerged with a bottle of wine, Shiro snorted. “I was kidding about the wine.”

  
  
Keith shrugged. “I wasn’t.”

 

Shiro said nothing as Keith fished around in his jacket pocket until he pulled out a Swiss Army Knife and used the corkscrew to open the bottle. The cork came out with a soft ‘pop’ and Keith poured a generous amount into two plastic cups before setting it down on the porch between them.

 

They touched their cups to each other in a pseudo-toast before they began sipping on the wine. “This is good. I didn’t realize you know how to pick out a good wine!”   


  
Keith felt the heat rush to his cheeks when he answered. “I don’t. I asked Hunk to help pick it out.”

 

Shiro chuckled at that and Keith finally relaxed a bit after seeing Shiro’s reaction.

 

“Thank you for doing this, Keith.” Shiro finally said. “It means a lot.”

  
“Of course. Pidge told me there was supposed to be a meteor shower tonight and I thought it would be nice.” Keith couldn’t help the need to let Shiro know he hadn’t come up with the whole thing on his own like he didn’t deserve the credit for it.

 

“It was a great idea. Thank you. I forgot how much I loved seeing these from out here.”

  
  
“Yeah,” Keith sighed and tried not to think too hard on the memories of him and Shiro hanging out in his dad’s old shack, sneaking out of the Garrison with alcohol to look at the stars and where Shiro would usually try to teach Keith something about astronomy. 

 

But Keith was rarely listening. He was too enraptured by Shiro and his overwhelming presence that he’d swear he was getting drunk on that, the cheap beer be damned.

 

They sat there for almost an hour, quietly watching the sky as they slowly finished the bottle of wine. Keith was embarrassed to say that it only took those few glasses for him to feel the telltale flush of tipsiness. But he was warm and felt good, and found himself smiling every time he looked over at Shiro.

  
  
Shiro eventually caught his gaze and laughed nervously. “What? Is there something on my face?”

  
  
Keith shook his head in response. “Nah. It’s just nice to see you so relaxed for once.”

  
  
Shiro mocked looking offended at the comment. “I’m always relaxed!”

  
  
Keith tried to keep a straight face at that but both of them collapsed in a fit of laughter.

 

They were lulled back into silence after that, watching the sky as the meteors continued to fall. Keith felt Shiro’s presence next to him, all at once too close and not close enough, because he wanted to be touching Shiro, but also wanted to be far away from him to protect himself from the hot desire that was going to burn him alive.

 

A soft nudge at his hand pulled Keith back to the present and when he looked down he saw Shiro holding his hand out to him. It surprised him so much that he almost said something to Shiro, but caught himself at the last second and reached over. He allowed Shiro to thread their fingers together and soon found himself watching Shiro rather than the meteor shower.

  
  
Shiro must have noticed because without even looking at Keith, he asked, “Everything okay over there? I can _hear_ you thinking.”

 

Keith turned his face away so fast that he nearly gave himself whiplash. “I wasn’t thinking....much.”

  
  
He could perfectly imagine the look on Shiro’s face, one eyebrow raised in question and his expression contorted in confusion. 

  
  
Finally, Shiro’s voice cut the silence. “Keith. Talk to me. What’s on your mind?”

  
  
_ You _ . Keith wanted to say.  _ You and how much I love you _ .

 

Instead, he said, “The war. And how different things would have been if we’d never found the Blue Lion.”

  
  
Shiro sighed and said nothing for a beat. When he did speak, Keith felt a piece of his heart break at the tone in his voice. “A lot would be different, that’s for damn sure. But also, a lot of good things came out of it.”

  
  
He paused, and when Keith didn’t interrupt, Shiro continued.

 

“We never would have met the other paladins, for one. And Allura and Coran. Never would have saved the universe. Never…” He trailed off, leaving Keith to fill in the blanks.   


  
More silence, but this time Keith was the one who broke it. He took a deep breath and gathered up his courage, thinking,  _ it’s now or never. Patience yields focus. _

 

“And I never would have realized I’m in love with you,” Keith said, barely above a whisper and half hoping Shiro hadn’t heard him.

 

“What?” Shiro sounded stunned, and Keith hoped that wasn’t as bad as his mind was telling him it was.

  
  
“It...took losing you for me to realize that I love you,” Keith began slowly, carefully. He was laying his heart out on the table to be potentially crushed and needed to choose his words wisely. “When you told me you had died back in the Black Lion, I can’t even begin to tell you what that did to me. A piece of myself died with you that day.”

  
  
Keith took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts before continuing. He knew Shiro desperately wanted to say something, but he was kind enough to let Keith finish what he had started first.

 

“And the first thought I had was that you died before I had the chance to tell you that I love you. That I always had.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

  
  
Keith wasn’t sure if he should laugh or cry at that question. But he held up his hand and began ticking off reasons with his fingers. “Why? Well first you were with Adam. Then everyone thought you had died on Kerberos and you were missing for a year. Then we were fighting an intergalactic war. Then we got home and found out what happened to Adam…” 

 

Neither of them felt the need to finish that thought. Keith hated to even bring it up because he was sure Shiro was still mourning for Adam and what their lives could have been if he’d still been alive when they returned to Earth.

 

After several minutes of silence, Keith felt a sharp squeeze on his hand. Through all of that, he had forgotten that he and Shiro were holding hands. But it pulled him back out of his head as he finally looked at Shiro again.

 

“Keith,” Shiro breathed his name like it was something that could break apart if he wasn’t careful. He reached out and tucked a stray piece of hair behind Keith’s ear, causing a shiver to involuntarily run down Keith’s spine. 

  
  
Then, Shiro closed his eyes for a second, as if to go over what he was about to say in his head, his hand never leaving the side of Keith’s face. Keith felt his heart fall to his stomach, knowing what that look on Shiro’s face meant...he was about to get rejected and was already throwing up his emotional walls.

  
  
“Keith, I love you too. So, so much.” Shiro finally said, shattering the fortress Keith was prepared to throw up around his heart.

  
  
Instead of responding right away, he blinked, trying to let what Shiro had just said sink in.

  
  
Shiro chuckled repeating his earlier statement, “I can  _ hear _ you thinking, Keith.”

 

Keith shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and looked at Shiro. “What about Adam?”

  
  
The pained sigh that came from Shiro almost made Keith regret ever bringing this up. But Shiro spoke before Keith could take it back and brought his other hand up to cup Keith’s cheek so that he was holding his face with both hands. 

  
  
“I loved Adam. A part of me always will. But we were done before I left for Kerberos. Even if he was still alive, we never would have gotten back together. We’d grown apart as people and we knew that before any of this happened. He was my past, but you’re my future.”   


  
Keith hadn’t even realized he was crying until Shiro brushed a stray tear away from his cheek. The cocktail of emotions he was feeling finally bubbled over like too much foam on a beer as the tears leaked out of his eyes. A particularly bright meteor lit up the sky at that exact moment and before Keith could register what was happening, Shiro had leaned forward and pressed their lips together.

 

The kiss stunned him for just a second, but the instant his brain kicked back into action and realized, _this is happening. Shiro loves me, he’s kissing me, and this isn’t a dream_ , Keith returned it in full. He sighed and opened his mouth, accepting Shiro’s tongue and just giving himself into the kiss. 

 

They made out for some time, lying on the deck out in the desert with only the sand and stars for company. When they finally pulled apart, Shiro blinked at the light from the sun that was starting to pierce the darkness. Keith shivered when he realized how cold it had gotten, so it was with mutual agreement that the two of them picked up their things and went inside the shack.

 

Once inside, they barely managed to stumble into the bed in the single bedroom. A cloud of dust puffed up around them as they collapsed on the mattress, but neither cared. They were too tired and too giddy to worry about it.

 

As rays of light began to come in through the spaces in the old, cracked shades, Shiro opened his arms and Keith eagerly pressed himself to Shiro’s chest, cuddling against him as they soon found themselves drifting towards sleep.

 

A press of lips to his forehead and a whispered “I love you” was the best way to fall asleep that Keith had ever dared to dream of.

  
  
  


  
  
  


  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> As always, HUGE shout out to my betas and wonderful friends voxane, thoughtsappear, copperwings, softieghost, crazyhomoinspace, and Ash for all the help and encouragement. Y'all mean the world to me and I don't know what I'd do without you! <3
> 
> Also huge love to my fellow mods francowitch, lalionnebelle, ghostmoonchild, and Shino on this project!! <3 
> 
> Come shout at me about anime, gay stuff, and nerdy stuff on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/FoxyLovesFandom) and/or [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/theinsanefox)


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